On our way to bring you home ...

It is finally here. We leave today. I cannot wait to see our little Kiera again. And this time we get to keep her and bring her home. Everything is ready (we think) and so are we. I hope we didn't forget anything. I can't put into words how thankful I am for every one of you that has prayed with us and for us. We love you! And we will see you all soon!

Joel, Mandy and Kiera

Back to Africa

We finally got to news on Friday, November 5th that we are in line for the embassy appointment on November 30th. They told us to book our flights to arrive on the 25th, Thanksgiving day. What an exciting way to spend Thanksgiving.

So, we booked the flights and will be leaving on the 24th and come back on december3rd with our baby girl. We cannot wait.

Thanks again for all your prayers everyone. Our family has been so blessed by all of you. I will Try to keep posting when we leave, but like last time it will not b everyday so keep checking.

Blessing!
Joel, Mandy and Kiera

Wait

I was organizing some books to make room for the baby books for Kiera and I came accross a poem book by Russell Kelfer call "Wait." I re-read it and found God speaking to me in the words. I have been getting so impatient these last few weeks (as it has been over a month since I have seen my daughter). I needed to be reminded that God is in charge and he has a reason for our wait, even if I don't know what it is.
Thank you Lord!

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .

And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

As my Master replied again, "Wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,

And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .

and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

by Russell Kelfer

Lalibela: A look back to our tour of Ethiopia

I thought I would post a few pictures of the beauty of Ethiopia. After we met our daughter and had to say goodbye, Joel and I spent some time in Addis Ababa and then traveled to Lalibela (in the northern part of Ethiopia).

It is hard to describe even this part of our trip ... as we spent more time in Ethiopia, we realized it is becoming home to us as well. Even the people we met at our hotels and our tour guide talked to us as if we were adopting Ethiopia as our home as well as adopting Kiera. And I am okay with that. The culture, people and land of Ethiopia are all wonderful and they suit us well.

The beautiful mountain as we drive from the airport to Lalibela ...

... flowers outside our hotel ...

...view from our hotel room (Lalibela churches) ...

... huge churches and trenches carved out of rock in the 12th century ...

... service and chanting at the Church of Mary ...

... most famous church of Lalibela (Church of St. George). See how the rock was completely carved out, more than 30 feet down, leaving a pillar in the middle, which became the church. It is completely carved, nothing was built. Truly amazing and beautiful.

As you can see Ethiopia is a beautiful country with great history. There is so much more to tell, but it would take a long time. I am excited to continue to learn more as we return this next time to get our daughter and visit the southern region of Ethiopia where Kiera is from.

Court Approval Received

Today we got notification from Holt that our Court Approval was officially received in Ethiopia. This means that they can now get the other documents today that are needed before we return to pick up our little girl. Hopefully that will all go smoothly and quickly.

Back home

We made it back into the USA a few days ago but needed some recovery time. I think we are getting back on track now. At least ihope so because we are back to work today.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support. We are waiting for our Appointment to go back and get our little girl. We will keep you posted.

Blessings!
Joel and Mandy

"She is Yours"

Well it's been an awesome and fantastic last couple of days. I'm writing this email from the business center of a different hotel (We transferred) supposedly this hotel has public wifi, but our laptop just won't connect.

Anyway, let me tell you about our court proceedings! We woke up early on Tues morning, and the three other families who were in our adoption situation drove down to the Ethiopian high court. We waited until they called us into the judges chambers. (thankfully our judge spoke very good English). She asked us a bunch of questions about why we wanted to adopt, how we chose Ethiopia, how we plan to handle her identity issues, etc. It did not take as long as we anticipated...we were expecting to be there for a half an hour, but it only took about 5 min. At the end of the proceedings, the judge said, "Do you still want to adopt her?" We said "Yes!" And the judge replied...then, "She is yours."

Those three little words were so amazing to hear. She's ours. As far as Ethiopia is concerned Mandy and I are her parents...Unfortunately it's still going take 8-12 more weeks of waiting before they let us bring her home. She can't leave Ethiopia until the US embassy recognizes her as a US citizen. That means waiting for an Embassy Appointment, processing a birth certificate, social security number, etc. Lots more to do. I can't believe how God's hand has been in this process for us. He's been taking care of one hurdle after another.

All the waiting, all the frustration has been worth it (100%), and I would gladly go through it all again. I can't wait for you to meet her. Kiera's incredible. Let me tell you about our last day together:

After the court hearing we grabbed lunch and went to see Kiera one last time. After seeing her 2 days in a row she was so excited to see us. She seemed to remember us and she was so playful and attentive. We fed her, and wrapped her up in the prayer shawl we got from Trinity, prayed over her, and then we took as many pictures as we could. You won't believe it. She was so close to rolling over! She almost did it, and we had the camera rolling. It's sad that she didn't though. It would have been so cool to be there for that milestone in her young life. She'll probably be rolling, crawling and moving all over the place by the time we see her again. Oh well...then they came to say good-bye. They allowed us to place her in her bed in the nursery. She was fine when we laid her down and gave her kisses. But she began to cry as we walked away (we were good up to that point...then it got hard). So we said the goodbyes we didn't want to say.

One last thing - we found out from our agency that Ethiopia does not allow us to post pictures of Kiera on the web while she is still living in the care center/orphanage. That means we've been breaking the rules (in ignorance) up to this point by posting pictures on the blog and facebook. We'll be taking those pictures down after we get back to the US, and we won't be posting any new picture for public viewing on the web until we are permitted to do so. But we are allowed to send all the picture we want through email. Feel free to pass the pictures around if you like as you receive them. More will be coming soon.

Keep us in your prayers as we travel to Lalibella tomorrow. It's a massive church structure on the other side of the country and it's one of the 8th wonders of the world. Also, when we get home - remind me to tell you about the leper colony we visited...it's another one of those experiences that's tough to put into words.

Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Joel (and Mandy)

1st Meetings

The last two days have been wonderful. We have met our daughter and spent some great time with her. We got to feed her, rock her to sleep (she even fell asleep on daddy's chest today while he was singing to her). She has a great set of lungs, but it is cute cry. Joel says she is going to love to sing. She was even smiling and cooing today as we were playing. We love her so much and cannot wait for you all to meet her as well.

Blessings!
Joel and Mandy

We're Here!

We safely arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last night about 9:00pm Ethiopia time (1:00pm Wausau). We are staying in a guest house (different then the one they planned), but it is very nice.

Good news! We get to meet Kiera this afternoon. This is one day earlier than scheduled, so we are extremely excited. We will blog again when we get a chance. Internet connection is not always accessable and the first time I tried to send this we lost power. So keep checking for updates and we will get it out there eventually.

Love you all!
Joel and Mandy

Here we go!

We will be on our way in just 4 days. Soon we will get to see and hold our little girl for the first time. We are coming precious Kiera. Joel and I thank you all for your support and prayers thus far. And we ask for continued prayers as we travel and as we have to come back home and leave our little one in Ethiopia for a little while longer.

I will try to update this blog a few times while we are there so keep checking. There should be some new pictures.

Love you all and see you when we get back n
Joel and Mandy